Clean beauty has been used as an all-encompassing term in beauty for the longest time. A brand that doesn’t test on animals? Clean beauty. A product that has all-natural and/or organic ingredients? Clean beauty. Gluten-free or vegan-friendly products? Yes, you got it – clean beauty, again.
But is clean beauty really better beauty? While some consumers may not want to put synthetically produced ingredients on their skin, researchers argue that “nasties” like preservatives don’t have a harmful effect on skin – take parabens, for example, which have a bad rep because a small handful of limited and selective studies say that they can disrupt the functions of the endocrine system, yet are certified safe to be used in cosmetics by many safety panels across the board, including the US FDA. They also work to help keep the skincare or makeup product in good condition and make it last longer. And if a product lasts longer, you won’t need to replace it as frequently – so by reducing our consumption, we’re actually being more environmentally friendly.
Thus enters “considered beauty”, a term coined by Net-a-Porter and conveyed by their global beauty director Newby Hands at their annual beauty trend presentation. It refers to beauty brands that are careful with the ingredients they use – and leave out – in their formulations, such as essential oils, alcohol, parabens and sulphates; and brands that focus on the behind-the-scenes stories such as how they advocate for fair-trade ingredients or work to protect the oceans or reduce their carbon footprint.
Yes, it does sound similar to its predecessor “clean beauty”, but this is actually much less misleading – because we all know what is natural might not necessarily be the best. For instance, flying in natural ingredients from a farm from the other end of the planet to a factory will likely generate more carbon footprint and be more harmful to the environment than using a synthetically produced ingredient (that works just as well, if we may add) that’s created in a laboratory in the factory itself. So here are five well-known brands that we’re re-classifying as “considered beauty” brands.
Main image: Instagram (@koraorganics)